Post by Kalvis on Sept 22, 2005 10:41:44 GMT -6
By 8 p.m. last night (Wed, 21 Sep 2005) the clouds had mostly given way to clear skies and the moon was not yet shining its spotlight over the celestial bowl. Air was dry, wind was moderate, and temperatures were in the comfortable low 70's so I was glad to haul out my scope and head into the backyard for some observing. I've been a faithful buyer (and now subscriber) of the new Sky & Telescope offshoot magazine called Night Sky and the Sep/Oct 05 issue had an intriguing article about multiple stars. I thought that spotting the eight which were described could be a challenge in the couple of hours I was willing to devote, but in the end my success rate was 100%. Here is my list of targets:
Also found the Double Cluster in Perseus which had eluded me before. Will have to wait for darker skies and bigger scopes to see in these groups in more detail.
Lastly, the Moon and Mars cleared the rooftops of my neighbors to the East allowing me to put some icing on the cake. Although I could not get any details out of the planet at my highest possible magnification, our own natural satellite was astoundingly beautiful. I'm certain that seeing Magnificent Desolation the previous evening had something to do with my perception...
FYI, I was using a Hardin Optical Star HOC 80mm f6 achromatic refractor with 2x TeleVue Barlow and Astrola Plossl 9mm and 25mm e.p.'s giving 38x and 107x respectively. Finding was done exclusively with star charts, my scope mounted green laser pointer and star hopping when needed.
Sure is a satisfying way to spend a couple of hours!
Kalvis
1. Epsilon Lyrae (Double double) -- I had found and split them in previous sessions, but it was a nice start
2. Albireo (Beta Cygni) -- spotted before, but gorgeous colors nevertheless
3. Alya (Theta Serpentis) -- like a par of tiny pear earrings
4. Omricon-1 Cygni -- a patriotic red-white-blue triple system
5. Enif (Epsilon Pegasi) -- tried tapping my scope and tripod, but couldn't observe the swinging action of the smaller violet star for which the nickname "Pendulum Star" has been given
6. Gamma Delphini -- surprisingly was able to spot (not split) this naked eye despite being mag. 4.5 and competing with bright streetlights in the nearby alley
7. Delta Cephei -- the Cepheid prototype for which all others are named
8. Almach (Gamma Andromedae) -- a close second to the grandeur of Albireo
Also found the Double Cluster in Perseus which had eluded me before. Will have to wait for darker skies and bigger scopes to see in these groups in more detail.
Lastly, the Moon and Mars cleared the rooftops of my neighbors to the East allowing me to put some icing on the cake. Although I could not get any details out of the planet at my highest possible magnification, our own natural satellite was astoundingly beautiful. I'm certain that seeing Magnificent Desolation the previous evening had something to do with my perception...
FYI, I was using a Hardin Optical Star HOC 80mm f6 achromatic refractor with 2x TeleVue Barlow and Astrola Plossl 9mm and 25mm e.p.'s giving 38x and 107x respectively. Finding was done exclusively with star charts, my scope mounted green laser pointer and star hopping when needed.
Sure is a satisfying way to spend a couple of hours!
Kalvis